Impulsively (Dante's Nine MC) (13 page)

Even if that
does
mean investigating the people I’m beginning to think of as my friends.

“Hey there, sunshine,” Kelly smirks, opening the door
bearing the gilded B.

“Thanks for letting me take the afternoon shift, as it
were,” I grin bashfully, slipping into the sleek, modern suite. I swung home
between leaving the FBI and coming here to change out of last night’s clothes.
I’ve opted for a pair of boyfriend jeans and a loose black tank today, and my
hair hangs in its natural red curls. I didn’t have enough time to shower, but
I’m certainly looking more put together than I did when I rolled out of Brooks’
bed.

“We were all in rough shape this morning,” Kassie laughs from
the kitchen. “Speaking of, can I get you some coffee?”

“God yes,” I breathe, slinging my large handbag onto the
wooden table we use as a collective desk.

The suite is filled with warm sunlight, streaming in through
the tall windows. Vegas churns on beneath us, active even at this time of day.
In a couple of hours the very air above Sin City will be golden, before the sky
gives way to the pulsing neon fever dream of night.

Kassie sets three mugs on the table and tips the rich contents
of the French press into them. I sip my excellent cup of coffee, still
unaccustomed to drinking anything so fine. These girls may be biker broads, but
I’m learning that the home lives of these MC members are often much more
luxurious than their reputations would suggest.

“So,” Kelly says, crossing her arms and studying me, “you
have a good time last night?”

I meet her gaze gamely. Kelly is a spitfire, but I’m none
too timid myself. “I did,” I reply.

“You and Brooks were getting awfully cozy,” Kassie remarks,
“did you guys...?”

“No,” I cut her off, “we didn’t. I passed out at some point,
and Brooks kept me company until morning.”

“But you did hook up, right?” Kelly presses.

“There may have been a
little
hooking up,” I allow, remembering the moment we kissed beneath the sprawling
sky. The moment I tasted him for the first time. “But nothing past a little
friendly making out, I promise.”

“Hey, you don’t have to answer to us,” Kassie says, elbowing
Kelly. “What you do after hours is your business. We can’t exactly caution you
to stay away from bad boy bikers, can we? I’m sure Brooks is a good guy, in the
end. I mean, Declan vouches for him.”

“I was hoping to set you up with Tyke,” Kelly sighs. “Guess
I’m not the best matchmaker. Though there is a new girl at the Devil’s Playpen
who might go for him...”

“You’re a crazy person,” Kassie says, rolling her eyes.

“Takes one to know one,” Kelly returns. “But anyway, Keira,
if you want Brooks, you should go for it. Trust me, biker sex can be—”

“Can you please not try to scare our new employee away
before her first week is up?” Kassie cuts in.

“Actually, I’m kind of curious,” I admit. “I mean, I imagine
the sex is incredible. But beyond that, how did you guys find yourselves
shacked up with the VPs of two of Vegas’s most influential MC’s?”

“Did some research about the subject, huh?” Kassie teases.

“You caught me,” I demur, kicking myself for showing my
hand. Luckily, the girls don’t seem to notice. “Guess I’m just curious about
the life, is all.”

“Let me put it this way,” Kelly says, leaning toward me over
the table, “falling in love with a guy like Leo, or Declan—even Brooks—it
realigns your whole world. The way you think about everything flips on its
head. Even the way you think of yourself. Being loved, desired, by a man that
powerful makes you feel like a goddamn goddess. I highly recommend it,
actually.”

I look between Kassie and Kelly, relieved that their
reservations about Brooks seem to have lifted. They seem to really want me to
fall for him. Or at least let him take me for a ride. Jesus, there really must
be something to this whole bad boy thing if they endorse it so wholeheartedly.

“Doesn’t it ever bother you, though?” I ask carefully. “The
fact that your old men aren’t exactly on the right side of the law?”

“Here’s the thing about the law, Keira;” Kassie says,
shaking her blonde hair off her shoulders, “there may be two sides, by that’s
doesn’t mean there’s necessarily a right one.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Law enforcement, the police, the government,” Kassie goes
on, waving her hand dismissively, “they all claim to have some moral high
ground. But what gives them the right to impose their morality on the rest of
us? Especially when most of the time, it’s only their own best interests
they’re looking out for.”

“How many laws that exist in this country actually serve to
protect those who need protecting?” Kelly goes on. “The fundamental rules that
govern this country were put in place two hundred years ago. Since then,
lawmakers,
and
law
enforcers, have been more concerned with protecting rich people’s rights and
property than anything else.”

“Don’t you think that’s a bit of a generalization?” I ask,
bristling at the implication that what I do as an FBI agent is morally corrupt.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Kassie shrugs. “All I’m saying is that
morality isn’t black and white. And anyone who claims otherwise, the government
included, is lying. Dante’s Nine and the Devil’s Wraiths have broken the laws
of the land more times than anyone can count, and they’ve paid the price each
time. But no threat of punishment is going to keep them from living the way
they feel is honest. They protect their brothers and families, they don’t go
out of their way to hurt anyone, and they’re fierce about their honor and their
beliefs. And I’ve come to admire that immensely.”

“But people still do get hurt, don’t they?” I say softly, my
baby brother’s face swimming up in my mind’s eye. “There are innocent people
who get hurt when people don’t follow the law, aren’t there?”

“There are innocent people who get hurt when this country
legally
goes to war, too,”
Kelly says. “There are innocent people wrongly killed by the law, by the
government. It’s an imperfect system, Keira. The MC life just preaches living
fully and protecting your own before the system can screw you over for good.”

For the first time, I find myself considering Brandon’s
death in another light. A stray bullet hit him during a shootout between the
cops and a local gang. But what if the bullet itself came from one of the cop’s
guns, rather than a gang member’s? Would that change anything?

No. I can’t start thinking like this. Not now.

“Sorry, that was a little much,” Kelly says, noticing my
pensive expression.

“It’s fine,” I tell her, snapping out of it. “Just...a lot
to think about.”

“Remember,” Kelly smiles, “throwing yourself into the MC
life is not a requirement of this job. We just don’t want you to write it off
without considering—”

“Why don’t we just get back to the task at hand?” Kassie
suggests. “Kelly and I have to head out and meet a potential investor this
afternoon. Will you be OK working here on your own for a while, Keira?”

Jackpot. A little alone time to snoop around the CrowdedNest
files is just what I need.

“Sure,” I reply, “that’s no problem at all. Just let me know
what you need to me do.”

“If you could just familiarize yourself with our SEO and
marketing strategies today, that would be incredibly helpful,” Kassie goes on,
“You should be able to access everything you need through our shared internet
connection. We’ve authorized your computer. We’ll be gone for the rest of the
day, so feel free to ship off when you’re finished. We trust you.”

Ugh
.
This whole snooping thing would be a whole lot easier if I didn’t feel so
guilty about going behind Kassie and Kelly’s backs. I need to find a way to
stay unattached around here, no matter how awesome my new employers happen to
be.

“Sounds like a plan,” I say, opening up my laptop. “You two
go ahead, I’ll be fine here.”

Kelly and Kassie head out after a few more words of
instruction. I listen as the elevator doors whistle shut and look around the
impressive suite. I’m alone with all the intelligence I could possibly need
about CrowdedNest.com. How’s that for good luck?

I set to work at once, pulling up the shared folder that
contains every bit of information concerning the crowd-funding site. There are
banking statements, investor breakdowns, personnel information, marketing
outlines, the works. Time to start digging. I download a copy of the entire
folder onto my own laptop first thing, so I can keep up my investigation at
home.

As I begin to peruse the files, I’m struck by how
ultra-professional everything is. Kassie and Kelly both studied computer
science at Berkeley, I learn from the marketing materials, so it’s no surprise
that they know their shit. That also means that they’re probably pretty good at
covering shit up, if need be. But it takes a computer nerd to know a computer
nerd. With my own degree, I’d say we’re pretty evenly matched.

The further I dig into the CrowdedNest files, the more legit
everything looks. Sure, Declan offered the startup cash, and money was shifted
from the CrowdedNest account to pay for the construction of the Dante’s Nine
auto shop, but none of that is obscured in these reports. It’s as though Kassie
and Kelly are trying to be as transparent as possible about the fact that club
and site funds are fluid. It’s ballsy of them. They’re not making any effort to
hide how involved they are in their MC’s. They may not be married to Leo and
Dec, but they’re plenty entwined in other ways.

Just as I’m about to give Mitchell a call to ask about the
initial tips against CrowdedNest, I hear the elevator doors open once more. My
heart flies into my throat as I close out of the various files I have pulled up
on my computer. Sure, I’ve been granted access with the girls’ knowledge, but
they may start to wonder about my motives if they see me trolling through their
every little file.

I look up as the front door clatters open. Relief and
excitement spark simultaneously through my brain as Brooks strides into the
suite. His bare, bulging arms are run-through with thick veins. His face is
flushed, and engine grease lingers on his exposed skin—almost like an extra set
of tattoos. He looks like he’s been hard at work in the garage all morning. But
the second he lays eyes on me, alone in the apartment, his tired eyes blaze to
life.

“Hey, Red,” he says, closing the door behind him. “I was
hoping I’d find you here.”

“Been rolling around in the mud all day, Brooks?” I ask,
standing to face him. I lean back against the long wooden table, unconsciously
arching my back just a bit. Brooks’ eyes skirt down along the length of my
body, lingering on my breasts as they rise with every breath. Those breaths
come faster as he approaches, advancing like a lion closing in on his prey.

“Been working all day,” he grins, closing the distance
between us. “Not that you’d know what
real
work is, sitting behind this computer all day.”

“Oh please,” I say, rolling my eyes, “we both play with toys
all day. You’ve got your grownup Hot Wheels, I’ve got my grownup Gameboy. I
don’t see much of a difference.”

“I told you,” Brooks says, as he places his hands on the
edge of the table, boxing me in, “I don’t play games.”

“That much is abundantly clear,” I breathe, amazed at the
sudden, brazen closeness of him. My entire body reacts to his presence, begs
for his expert touch.

“I’ve been thinking about you ever since you left this
morning,” he says, his voice rich and rasping.

“That so?” I ask, as he inches in ever closer. “What have
you been...thinking?”

“I’ve been thinking about how sweet you taste,” he growls,
brushing his lips against my neck, “how sexy you’d look in nothing but my tee
shirt,” he wraps a strong arm around me, drawing me close. “How I’d give
anything to get you alone...”

“Well look at that,” I breathe, taking his bearded face in
my hands, “you’ve got me.”

Surprise and satisfaction surge through the green pools of
his eyes. “Looks like I’m not the only one who’s been thinking things over,” he
says.

“I don’t want to play games either, Brooks,” I say, sliding
my hands along his firm chest, “It’s like you said. You want me, I want you.
Why fight it?”

“That’s more like it,” he grins.

We pick up right where we left off this morning, like not a
moment has passed. Now that we’re alone, I don’t have to keep my desire at bay.
My lust has been growing all day long, boiling over inside of me. How can
someone I just met do this to me?

With no effort at all, Brooks picks me up off the ground,
setting me down on the long table before him. My legs part to accommodate his
huge, powerful body. Without thinking, I hook my ankles beneath his perfectly
sculpted ass, tugging him closer to me. My sex is throbbing with anticipation
as he presses against me, running his hands along my sides.